Drag Illustrated Issue 190, September / October 2024 | Page 58

Special Section
IN THE SPRING OF 2014 , 21 TOP SPORTSMAN DRIVERS ENTERED THE FIRST-EVER PDRA RACE , THE INAUGURAL SPRING OPEN AT ROCK- INGHAM DRAGWAY . THE LATE , GREAT RONNIE DAVIS WAS THE NO . 1 QUALIFIER WITH A 4.032-SECOND ELAPSED TIME IN HIS ICONIC ’ 63 CORVETTE . IN THE FINAL ROUND , STACY HALL RAN A 4.30 ON A 4.25 DIAL-IN TO DEFEAT WILLIAM BROWN III , WHO ALSO DIALED A 4.25 BUT SLOWED TO A 4.874 . THE BIGGEST RACES THAT SEASON DREW AROUND 30 CARS , WHILE CAR COUNTS IN THE LOW 20S WERE AVER- AGE . ¶ “ I WENT TO THAT FIRST RACE JUST WANTING TO QUALIFY ,” SAID DAN FERGUSON , WHO WENT ON TO WIN THE 2014 AND 2016 PDRA TOP SPORTSMAN WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS . “ THERE WAS A GOOD ENERGY AROUND THE PLACE , ALL OF THE STAFF WERE REALLY NICE , AND IT WAS JUST A GOOD EXPERIENCE ALL AROUND . THE PAYOUTS ARE GOOD TOO ; THE BEST OUT THERE FOR ANY SERIES , IN MY OPINION .”
After the first five races of the 2024 Red Line Oil PDRA Drag Racing Series season , MagnaFuel Top Sportsman has averaged 62 entries , with a high of 71 at the North vs . South Shootout at Maryland International Raceway and a low of 42 at the Northern Nationals at U . S . 131 Motorsports Park .
The class has obviously grown and evolved in big ways since the inaugural PDRA season . One of the most obvious changes is the expansion into two classes after qualifying . Elite Top Sportsman , this season presented by PAR Racing Engines , takes the 16 quickest drivers . “ Regular ” Top Sportsman , presented
by Corbin ’ s RV this year , will take the next eight , 16 , 32 , or 48 cars depending on the overall car count . This season , four out of five events have had enough cars for a Top Sportsman 48 field .
The increase in car count has also come with an increase in performance . Ferguson has tracked stats in Elite Top Sportsman for years . Specifically , he ’ s kept track of the E . T . s required to qualify in certain positions at each race . In 2021 , the averages were 3.784 for No . 1 , 3.917 for No . 8 , and 4.01 for No . 16 . In 2023 , those averages dropped to 3.745 for No . 1 , 3.872 for No . 8 , and 4.009 for No . 16 .
At the 2020 DragWars event at GALOT Motorsports Park in October , Elite Top Sportsman saw its firstever all-3-second field . The following season , six out of eight races
had all-3-second fields . The first and last races of the 2022 season had all-3-second fields , as did four out of eight races in 2023 . This year ’ s season-opening East Coast Nationals featured a record 3.886-second bump spot .
The ability to go fast but not spend , spend , spend to keep up with the next fastest guy in a heads-up classes is one of the factors that draws in racers like Randy Perkinson , who ’ s competed in PDRA Top Sportsman since the inaugural season . Driving for his father , Christy Perkinson , he ’ s competed in both Elite and regular Top Sportsman . This season , the Perkinson duo unveiled a G-Force Race Cars-built , ProCharged ’ 67 Mustang that puts Randy solidly in the Elite field . He won in the car ’ s debut , then won again at Maryland to sit second in points going into the last three races of the season .
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